Union Busting at Veterans Adm

August 20, 2019

By Joe Levine

MILWAUKEE, WI – AFGE members working at the Milwaukee Veterans Administration are under attack by anti-union forces at the federal government.

AFGE
members have documented shocking accounts of measures that the VA
administration is taking to remove union rights. VA administrators are
ignoring past contract and refusing to negotiate a future contract. VA
negotiators are proposing scrapping most of the present union agreement.

“We
have to stand up and fight!” said AFGE district organizer Don Evans as
he railed against the anti-union tactics of the VA and Trump
administration. “You want to make America great? No more shutdowns, stop
balancing the budget with our paychecks,” continued Evans, “You want to
make America great? Restore the integrity of the VA hospital and
bargain in good faith!”

Under the Trump administration, federal
agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs have essentially
declared war on federal government workers and their unions. VA
employees who are active in their union, enforcing the contract and
defending workplace rights, are being singled out and targeted for
discipline and harassment by management. The assault on union rights at
the VA is part of a much larger effort by the Trump administration and
employer-funded groups to weaken unions and disenfranchise workers.